Hailing a first, Clinton declares herself the Democratic nominee

LOS ANGELES, June 7 – Hillary Clinton declared herself the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. president on Tuesday, saying she had made history as the first woman to lead a major party in a race for the White House. LOS ANGELES, June 7 – Hillary Clinton declared herself the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. president on Tuesday, saying she had made history as the first woman to lead a major party in a race for the White House. The former first lady, senator and U.S. secretary of state beat rival Bernie Sanders in New Jersey’s nominating contest, expanding her lead a day after she captured the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination. “Together, we secured the Democratic nomination. For the first time ever, a woman will be a major party’s nominee to become President of the United States,” Clinton, 68, wrote in a fundraising email to supporters. New Jersey was one of six states holding contests on Tuesday, including California, the big prize where Clinton was still at risk of an embarrassing loss to Sanders as she heads into a campaign against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in the Nov. 8 election. Sanders, 74, was projected to win in North Dakota, and there were no immediate projections in Montana, New Mexico or South Dakota in the final series of big presidential nominating battles that began on Feb. 1 in Iowa. The District of Columbia, the last to vote, holds a Democratic primary next Tuesday. In the fundraising email…